KOBLENZ – Ahmad Wali Siddiqui, a German-Afghani who is alleged to
have been a member of al-Qaida, said on both Monday and Tuesday
during his trial that Iran harbored al-Qaida terrorists.

The revelations were fresh evidence of Shi’ite Iran’s ongoing support
of Sunni terrorists in al-Qaida and the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan.

“Life in Germany is not good. You live with gays, lesbians and Jews.
Islam rules here,” Siddiqui, 37, told his mother in Hamburg in a
wiretapped telephone conversation disclosed during his trial. He is
charged with being a member of a terrorist organization.

A group of German Islamists planned to return from Pakistan in 2010
to mount attacks targeting Europe’s economy. American forces in Kabul
arrested Siddiqui in 2010 when he was on his way to Germany.

He said during the trial that two of his fellow conspirators – Rami
Makanesi and Naamen Meziche – flew from Vienna to Tehran so as
not “to not get caught.” An Iranian-operated travel agency in Hamburg
arranged their trip.

Makanesi and Meziche established contact with a facilitator known
as “Dr.

Mamoud,” who works for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Siddiqui
continued.

The travel route allowed the two men to travel unimpeded to the
eastern Iranian city of Zahedan, which serves a hub for terrorists
seeking to enter Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dr. Mamoud “welcomed them”
to Zahedan and from the border city they made their way into
Pakistan, Siddiqui said.

Pakistani authorities arrested Makanesi in 2010 while disguised as a
woman wearing a burka. Meziche is believed to be in Iran.

Presiding Judge Angelika Blettner poised tough questions to Siddiqui
about his views toward the West and Jews. She said his anti-Jewish
and homophobic comments revealed contempt for life in Germany. When
asked by federal prosecutor Bernd Steudl who had taught him to hate
Jews, gays and lesbians, Siddiqui replied that “every mujahideen
[people involved in jihad] holds this opinion.”